This one has been on the drafts for the longest time. A quick snack that's just perfect with evening Coffee & is also a popular Deepavali snack.

What I love about this is that its super easy to make & something that beginners can try their hands on

You Will Need:

1 cup Besan

1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

1/4 teaspoon Ajwain/Carom Seeds

A pinch of Hing/Asafoetida

A big pinch of Turmeric powder/Haldi

Salt as needed

2 tsp Hot Oil

Water 2-3 tablespoons or as needed

Any neutral flavoured oil for deep frying

How To:

In a wide bowl, add all the ingredients one by one, except Hot oil & water. Give it a good mix.

Add water little at a time & knead well to form a soft & smooth dough. Make sure the dough is not sticky. If the dough gets sticky, add some more Gram Flour & knead

Meanwhile, In a deep heavy bottomed pan meant for deep frying, heat oil. Once the oil is hot, spoon about 2 teaspoons of hot oil & add it to the dough & knead well again.

Grease the Murukku press with oil. Attach the Round Murukku Mould. Take a little bit of the mixture & fill it inside the Murukku press, Check if the oil is hot enough for frying by dropping a bit of the dough in the pan, if the dough rises immediately then the oil is hot enough, If you feel that the oil is overheated, turn off the heat for a couple of minutes & reheat

Once the Murukku Press is filled with the mixture, press it directly over the hot oil, in a circular manner. Do not over crowd the pan. Fry them over medium flame. Flip them at regular intervals for even frying, When the bubbles & the frying sound die down, the Sev would have turned golden in colour.

Remove with a slotted spoon & drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Allow them to cool completely & break them gently & store in an air tight jar. They stay crisp & fresh upto a week

It kinda feels weird to be writing in a recipe after a long long time. But I've always wanted to share this simple Chaat recipe with you guys, So on a whim, I decided to type in this recipe at midnight when the household is nice & quiet. Better now or never :)

This probably is one of the healthiest ways to relish a chaat &it makes for a light evening snack with a cuppa Chai

OPOS (One Pot One Shot)cooking technique has gotten popular among food enthusiasts. This technique uses high heat & flash cooking method using a pressure cooker to cook many dishes. You can read more about OPOS technique here.

I realised that I've always been flash cooking my vegetables to make a South Indian dry curry/Palya. Flash cooking saves time, it retains the colour of the vegetables & it is never overcooked, which retains the crunch of the vegetables. Plus, it gets done in a pressure cooker which is very convenient for me.I have mentioned both the old way of Flash cooking as well as the OPOS method. Both are easy & both work.

You Will Need:

250g Green Beans

2 large Carrots

2 tablespoon grated coconut

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon Urad Dal

1/2 teaspoon Chana Dal

A big pinch of Asafoetida/Hing

2 teaspoon cooking oil

3 Green Chilies

Salt as per taste

How To Flash Cook Vegetables

-----------------------------

Method 1: (Old Method) ----------------------

Trim the ends of the beans & chop them. Clean the carrots & peel the skin if you wish to & dice them

In a Pressure Cooker (I use a Hawkins 2.5L Pressure Cooker), bring 3 cups of water to a boil, Add the beans & carrots. Cover it with add some salt.

Close the lid & let the steam build, After 1 whistle, turn off the stove. Manually release pressure by putting the pressure cooker under running water or use a spoon or a spatula. The pressure is released almost immediately

Open the lid & transfer the beans & carrots into a colander & set aside for a few minutes for the water to be drained completely

Method 2: (OPOS Method)----------------------Take a 2 L or a 3 L Pressure Cooker ( I use a Hawkins 2.5 L ) Spread 2 teaspoon of oil evenly. Now add 3 tablespoons of water & spread evenly. Now, spread the chopped beans & carrots evenly & sprinkle some salt on top. Close the lid & cook on high flame & let the pressure build up. After 2 whistles, turn off the heat & manually release pressure using a spoon or a spatula or place the cooker under running water. Your beans & Carrots will be cooked to perfection.

NOTE:
-- I also use this method to flash cook Cabbage & it works well.-- If you are trying the OPOS technique for the first time, watch this Video about how to flash cook using this technique. It is a very detailed & precise video

If you are not very familiar with Bangalore & its local cuisine, you might not know what 'Saagu' means. For the uninitiated, 'Saagu' or 'Sagu' is gravy like side dish served as an accompaniment with Pooris, Rava Idli or Set Dosas, at every 'Darshini' you will find in Bangalore

There are 2 kinds of Saagu that are commonly made. One is the made using a medley of vegetables, Coconut & Spices known as the Vegetable Saagu. The other kind is the Potato Saagu or Bombay Saagu (I don't know how the name came about, though) made mainly with potatoes that gets paired with Rava Idlis.

Rava Idli (Ravey Idli in Kannada) & Saagu make a delightful combination and is quite filling so, this is mostly our weekend brunch followed by a strong dose of Filter Coffee. Now coming to the Recipe, Bombay Saagu is fairly easy to make once you have the boiled potatoes ready. It uses very basic ingredients available in your kitchen. It pairs very well with Set Dosas, Pooris, Rava Idlis & Chapatis. Makes for a great lunch box option too

SERVES 3INGREDIENTS:

3 large Potatoes

1 large White onion

3 Green Chilies

A sprig of curry leaves

A pinch of Asafoetida/Hing

1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds

1 teaspoon urad dal

1 teaspoon Chana Dal

1/4 teaspoon Turmeic powder

1 tablespoon Gram Flour/Chickpea Flour/Besan

Salt as per taste

2 tablespoon cooking oil

How To:

Dice the potatoes into half & pressure cook with some salt. Once, the potatoes are cool enough to handle, Peel the skin & mash the potato into chunks with your hands

Meanwhile, make a slurry of Gram flour & water. Add it to the pan along with 2 cups of water & some salt & bring it to a gentle boil.

Now add the mashed potatoes & give it a stir. Reduce the flame, check for salt & let it simmer on low flame doe 3-4 minutes.

Turn off the flame & garnish with fresh coriander

NOTE:
-- You may add 1 chopped tomato at while you are sautéing the onions-- You can add Green Peas too -- The Saagu will thicken a bit upon cooling down. So keep the consistency a little runny before turning off the heat-- If you find the Saagu too thick, add a bit of water & reheat before serving, if the consistency is quite thin, add a bit of chickea flour dissolved in water & bring it to a boil again

This might just become your go to answer for those sudden late night chocolate cravings. A Chocolate Brownie Cake in a Mug, done in 90 seconds in the Microwave.

I choose to call this a Brownie Cake rather than just cake as the texture is a cross between a cake & a brownie.

I was never a big fan of Microwave Mug Cakes to be honest. A few years ago, It was all over the internet & everyone was making these instant mug cakes.

A version I tried did not turn out well. It was dry & rubbery. I thought that mug cakes looked pretty only in pictures & was clearly not my Mug of Cake :) until, I came across this recipe. I got my hands on this recipe just a couple of days ago & I made it 3 times in a day, it's that good believe meIt has a good texture, moist & chocolatey, which is a pretty good deal for those 2 minutes that you spend putting this together

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons All Purpose Flour/Maida

2 or 3 tablespoons Sugar *

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

3 tablespoon neutral flavoured cooking oil

3 tablespoon Milk

A pinch of Salt

A splash of Vanilla

1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 tablespoons Semi Sweet Chocolate chips

Sprinklers - optional

How To:

In a small wide bowl, add all the ingredients except chocolate chips & mix well with a spoon until well combined.

You could do this directly in the mug but I find it easier to mix the ingredients in a bowl

Incorporate the chocolate chips. Pour into a medium sized, microwave safe coffee mug. Top with a few chocolate chips & Microwave on high for 90 seconds

Add Sprinklers if using & wait for 3-4 minutes before digging in

You can top it with a bit of whipped cream or a small scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream & you are in for a treat

NOTE:

-- * Make sure you use powdered sugar. The first time, I used granulated sugar & I could bite into sugar granules after baking

-- The original recipes states 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder which I felt was way too chocolatey for 3 tablespoons of flour. I've used 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of Cocoa instead.

-- Do Not skip using chocolate chips & they melt when you bake it in the microwave keeping the brownie cake moist.

-- If you do not have chocolate chips, use chocolate chunks or break any chocolate you have into small chunks or you can use Nutella

-- Though, it tastes best when consumed while it is fresh out out the Microwave, I reserved a small portion to test if it stays good. It was reheated in the microwave for 30 seconds. I had expected it to be slightly dry but the texture was still pretty good.-- Use good quality Cocoa Powder. It makes a difference. I used Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa -- The Original recipe is from here

After years of being addicted to the Green Smoothie, this Very Berry Oats Smoothie is my current obsession. I've been trying to include a bit of Oats into my everyday diet, I am not a big fan of Oats Upma & the like. And I am yet to try my hands on overnight oats, so this smoothie is currently go to choice

I always have a box of blueberries in the refrigerator. It's my favourite of all the berries. I love the hue it adds to the smoothie

Serves 2

1 Large Banana **

1 Apple

A handful of Blueberries

4 Strawberries

2-3 Blackberries

1 tsp chia Seeds

1 tsp Almond Butter

1 tablespoon instant oats

2.5 cups Almond milk

4-5 Ice cubes

Slice the banana, Roughly chop the apples, I did not peel the skin. Add everything into a blender & blend until smooth. Pour into tall glasses & drink chilledYou could pretty much use any milk you like. Or even use 1 part milk & 1 part yogurt ** If you want to skip bananas because of their high calorie content, replace with a scoop of unflavoured protein powder

TIPS TO MAKE YOUR SMOOTHIE SUPER CREAMY

Have you ever wondered why your homemade smoothie does not taste creamy like the ones you get at the smoothie bar? I used to have this issue with my smoothies too.

* The secret to a creamy smoothie is using frozen fruits. YES :) Put your roughly chopped fruits in a ziplock bag & freeze for 2-3 hours or freeze them overnight & if you intend to make it for breakfast.

You can skip the ice cubes if using frozen fruits

* Adding a teaspoon of nut butter also makes a creamier smoothie. I've used almond butter here. You could substitute it with Peanut Butter or any other nut butter of your choice

As promised, here is the recipe for the Tomato Chutney I made along with Ragi Dosas. This might look like a regular tomato chutney to you, But this is made using Raw Tomatoes.

Yes, I haven't sautéed the tomatoes before grinding it into a chutney. And, it surprisingly tastes very good . This might soon become my favourite chutney because I enjoy the fresh taste of tomatoes & It does not taste raw at all

There are 2 versions of making this chutney, one with Dry Red Chilies & Chana Dal & the other one (and the easier one too) is the one using Green Chilies. Both the versions taste very good. The one with Dry Red Chilies is more fierce in color though You Will Need: